Alumni News
A Commitment to Excellence Robert W. Bogle embraces Kappa Alpha Psi's Mission of achievement as publisher of America's oldest Black newspaper By Johann Calhoun, Special to The Journal H eadquartered in a three-story building at 520 South 16 th Street, The Philadelphia Tribun e in its 135 th year, of 10 children. As a young student,
Bogle had tremen- dous dreams and aspirations, but it was clear his white teachers at the time thought as a Black man his idea of being great in society was too lofty a pursuit. They told Bogle he was not college material. After graduating from Yeadon High School, Bogle went on to Cheyney State College, which is now Cheyney Uni- versity. His initial academic discipline at Cheyney was in education, which later changed to
maintains the unique status as the old- est continuously run Black newspaper in the United States. Founded in 1884, the paper was born in an era where economic opportunities for Blacks were minimal and racism was at the fore- front. At the age of 28, Baltimore native Christopher James Perry published the first edition of The Tribune at 725 Sansom Street, an area in Center City Philadelphia now known as “Jeweler’s Row.” Perry led a one-page, one man op- eration titled The Tribune Weekly . And, from the very beginning until his death in 1921, he wrote about the problems that affected the daily lives of African- American men and women. Fast forward to 2019 and daunting issues re- main for African Americans, from voter ID legislation to police brutality. Bogle, a 1986 initiate of the Norristown Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi ® , the once weekly paper now publishes five days a week, has a circulation of over 200,000 and maintains a digital presence through its website phillytrib. com. Bogle believes the original mission that guides the publication in its earli- est years remains unchanged; and the struggle for equal access and opportu- nity that Black people found elusive remain major issues of the day. *** Growing up outside Philadelphia, in Darby and later Yeadon, Pennsylvania, Bogle was the third child in a family Under the leadership of its cur- rent President and CEO Robert W.
sociology, with a major in urban studies. He attributes much of his success in life to his parents. “My mother [Roslyn] was born in Lynchburg, Virginia,” Bogle says. “Her father was the president of Virginia Seminary and Theological School, which expanded into liberal arts. My father [John] went to school there and met my mother and eventually they moved to Philadelphia. He had worked for the Afro newspaper in Baltimore and they transferred him to Philadelphia. It ap- pears The Philadelphia Tribune encour- aged him to come and work.” It was at Cheyney where Bogle met his wife Marie. The couple put their education on hold, married, moved and
lived in New London, Connecticut for a few years. They later returned to Bogle's hometown, Yeadon, where two children were born to their union – son Robert Jr. and daughter Mariskia. In 1975, Bogle graduated from Cheyney with a bachelor's degree in urban studies and later attended the University of Penn- sylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Finance to study marketing and economics. One could suggest an influential member of the Black community at the time was responsible for Bogle's start in the newspaper industry. “My father worked at The Tribune,” Bogle says. “I would come with my father, and by doing so, I began to know
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Publishing achievement for 105 years
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